Thursday - post-op day 8

AM

30:00 AirDyne @ Z1, off every 5:00 for 10 walking lunge steps + 0:60 hamstring stretching

PM

8 rounds @ 75%:

250m row

44' unbroken handstand walk 

200m ski erg 

8 alternating step-ups, 12"

8 tough ring rows 

(50:07)

Finally able to AirDyne at my usual Z1 pace, although I still have the seat set one notch higher.  

Super hesitant on the walking lunges (and had to be gentle kissing my bad knee to the floor, the incisions are still pretty tender), but these got better and better with each set.  Knee is pretty tight at 90 degrees, but no pain.  Can't imagine flexing it more than 90 degrees yet... 

Hamstrings are incredibly tight.  Alarmingly tight.  I know it's just from a week of elevating my leg on the couch, but it's still concerning.  Making a conscious effort to stretch for every stint of icing moving forward...

Tested out a few 20" step-ups - not quite ready for this, felt a pretty sharp pain as soon as I transferred weight to the flexed leg (I'm guessing this is 91 degrees). Ended up using the biggest jerk block, zero issues at this height. 

Shorted the return on the erg, but absolutely no problem driving through my legs. Felt that same super sharp pain on the few strokes where I forgot to stop early. 

Trying not to panic that it hurts doing the same things that hurt before... 

Monday

AM
shoulder prep
+
20:00 AirDyne @ Z1

PM
A. Back squat, take your time & build to a moderate triple, adjust range of motion to avoid knee pain, cut if needed...
+
3 sets increasing efffort:
30 row calories
20 box jumps or step-up/step-downs OR 20 kettlebell swings @ 53
10 erg-facing burpees
3:00 walk rest
+
10:00 mobility work of choice

AM

complete

PM

A. 235
+
4:39
4:01
3:26
all box jumps, 20"
+
complete

Hooray for back squats!  I really thought I would never see another back squat again.  Once again, bees knees are magic.  Really almost zero pain while using them, but as soon as I pulled them down I could feel it.  Nothing sharp, just a bit achy (normal occurrence pretty much all the time).  Depth was good, videoed a couple to make sure.  Sad to realize how heavy 235 feels these days...

3 sets were good.  Knee tolerated the box jumps just fine, so stuck with those throughout.  Rowed at 700/850/>1000 cal/hr.  Box jumps after rowing were interesting, failed one on the last set (no blood, just an adrenaline rush).  Burpees got nice and fast on the last set.

And then did 3 sets of 2 unbroken muscle-ups :)

Monday - 15.1

AM
shoulder prep
+
30:00 AirDyne @ Z1, off every 5:00 for 5 box jump w/step-down, 20

PM
15.1/15.1a
+
10:00 @ very easy pace:
30 AirDyne calories
10 wall balls
1 rope climb
3 wall walks
+
10:00 mobility work of choice

AM

complete, subbed 10 step-ups/step-downs

PM
15.1: 106
15.1a: 201
+
complete
+
complete

Definitely pissed off my knee a bit on the heavy cleans from Friday... it's not terrible, but it did not like the box jumps today, and I figured there was no point aggravating it further, especially with the 15.1 redo.  It's not that bad, if box jumps come up this week I'll be fine, just would rather be safe than sorry.

I was really nervous going into the 15.1 redo... I really, really wanted to hit 201 again.  Broke all the deadlifts 5/5 and all singles on the snatches, with quite a bit of transition time.  I started off doing singles on the toes to bar, but I actually felt less fatigued doing sets of 5 with a longer break in between sets, so after the first 10 that's what I did.  Clean and jerked 156, 186, 196, 201.  I've never made such a large jump going to 185 before (I jumped 145 to 175 while warming up, and that was a first as well), but I almost always will take 10lb jumps once I'm around 165.  So that's the first cool thing about this, knowing that I can hit 185 solidly and after a large jump. I hit 196 with about 2:30 left (also I've never skipped 190 before, so that's cool), and opted to take the extra rest and make one good attempt at 201 instead of rushing the 201 and going for a 5th attempt.  None of my reps were nearly as crisp as they felt on Friday, but obviously I'm super happy with matching Friday's PR.  I'd kinda like to test a clean and jerk max under less stressful conditions!  I know I've got 205 for sure, maybe even a little more.

Got through one round + 20something calories on the 10:00 piece.  Mobility complete, hip and ankle.

Great start to the Open!  Ready for week 2.  I wouldn't mind some CTBs.

Monday

AM
shoulder prep
+
30:00 AirDyne @ Z1, off every 5:00 for 10 box step-up/step-downs - feel out an actual box jump or 2 once you're warm

PM
A. Power clean, build quickly to a tough single
+
3 rounds for even times:
10 wall balls, 14 to 9'
15 pull-ups
20 push-ups
25 unbroken double-unders
3:00 walk rest
+
10:00 mobility work of choice

AM

complete

PM

A. 175, 185Fx3
+
2:48
2:48
2:41
+
complete

Box jumps actually felt better than step ups... feel a little twinge on the step but absolutely nothing on the jump or impact.

Played with some muscle-ups in the beginning of the PM session - I was anxious to make sure I could still do them on the new set-up.  And also, I just like doing muscle-ups :)

Power cleans felt great today, 175 was almost effortless.  Pulled 185 really high on the first and 3rd attempts, just couldn't commit to catching it.  I didn't want to crunch a wrist.

3 round thing - ughhhh.  First of all, there was no good place to do wall balls and also pull-ups in a timely fashion, partially because the class was on the rig at the same time and I was all the way by the whiteboard, so running to the wall ball wall seemed like a bad plan.  I ended up doing them on the wall by the platforms, but people were lifting and rolling out and it was just a giant obstacle course.  If we could get some wall-ball targets that go on the rig, that would be awesome...  but I digress.  Knee felt pretty good on the wall-balls.  I need to video these or have someone watch to make sure I'm below parallel, I'm having a bad feeling that when I say that something's not hurting my knee it's because I'm flirting with parallel and not going deep enough.  ANYWAY.  All pull-ups broken 5/5/5, and tried to butterfly them all  - some of the sets of 5 were nice and in rhythm, some were not.  It's coming back, though.  Push-ups felt tough again this week, started to fall apart around 14 or so.  All double-unders unbroken on the first shot.

Spent time on hip mobility at the end - I'm ridiculously sore from adding back in the squatting... 

Monday

AM
shoulder prep
+
30:00 AirDyne @ Z1, off every 5:00 for 8 box step-up/step-downs @ 20

PM
A. Clean-grip deadlift, build to a moderate, fast single - just to fire up the CNS
+
For time:
5 muscle-ups
15 bar-facing burpees
25 deadlifts, 175
+
10:00 mobility work of choice

AM

complete

PM

A. 255
+
5:52
+
complete


Fun day!!  Including my extra 20:00 Z1 trek in the snow :)

CGDL felt easy, done in nanos.

Was very excited to finally do muscle-ups in a workout!  When I saw the programming last night, I thought it would be reasonable to try one MU every minute, considering I've never tried to push the pace on these before, and usually wait to recover pretty much fully between each attempt.  But then this morning, I was feeling ambitious and changed my mind, and went with one every 0:45.  It felt like plenty of rest between sets, these felt awesome today.  MUs done just after 3:00, burpees felt fast and steady, done at 4:11.  All deadlifts broken in sets of 5, the weight actually felt light but I was breathing pretty hard at this point and could tell I was taking a little too long between sets.  I could have pushed these faster.  Super happy with this overall though!

Progress!  It's the coolest.

Thursday

10:00 light scap activation
+
A. Push press, 3-2-1; 2:00 rest
B. Weighted supinated pull-up, 3 x 1-2, 21X0; 2:00 rest
+
For 14:00:
Evens: 4-7 CTB pull-ups
Odds: 10 box jump w/step-down, 20 - if the jump/land aggravates you knee switch it back to 14 alt step-up/step-downs
+
2 sets:
:60 row @ max effort
6:00 rest

Complete 

+

A. 155(3), 160F, 160F, 160(1)

B. +35(2), +40(2), +45(1)

+

Complete with step ups; 7 CTBs across 

+

298m, 1:40.6/500m avg

299m, 1:40.3/500m avg

AM weight @ home: 167.4

PM weight @ gym: 173 (including belt) 

Mostly great day! Everything was awesome except for the stupid push presses. 155 felt really good, got the 3 pretty easily (PR). Then failed 160 twice before finally getting one, and it was a struggle. What the hell? I could not tell you what I did differently...

Same deal as last week with the supinated pull-ups.  Felt awkward hanging, but very strong pulling. 

CTBs were the best they have ever been, hands down. All sets of 7 in rhythm (regular kip) and super easy to connect with the bar. Very, very happy with this. Tried one box jump, but that was a no-go.  Grrrrrr. So over this shit...

Um, the rows felt amazing. Shocked that I was able to hold that pace for a whole minute without dropping off. Very appreciative that it was only 2; don't think I could have hung on to that pace for a third. Breathing felt great! Hooray! 

Thursday

(scap prep + upper vertical push/pull ME + EMOM SL/upper pull + AnLP->E row)

10:00 light scap activation
+
A. Push press, 3-3-2 adding each set; 2:00 rest
B. Weighted supinated pull-up, 3 x 2-3, 21X0; 2:00 rest
+
For 12:00:
Evens: 4-7 CTB pull-ups
Odds: 14 fast alternating box step-up/step-downs, 20
+
3 sets:
:50 row @ max effort
5:40 rest

Complete

+

A. 135(3), 150(3), 155(2)

B. +20(3), +30(3), +35(2)

+

Complete; 7 CTB across 

+

250m; 1:40.0/500m avg

250m; 1:40.0/500m avg

250m; 1:40.0/500m avg

AM weight @ home: 167.5

PM weight @ gym (including belt): 172

Solid day.  Push press felt great; 150 is a PR +5 for a triple and 155 is a PR +5 for a double.  155 felt much easier than 150 for some reason... but happy to hit heavier weights relatively easily two weeks in a row.

Supinated pull-ups are weird, I've gotten so used to always doing pronated.  I feel like my wrists/elbows don't rotate all the way around, so it's fairly uncomfortable to hang from the bar.  The actual pulling felt really strong though.  Pretty sure those are some PRs for a triple and a double as well.

CTBs done with a regular kip.  Again, first two sets were a little rough but got into a nice groove as the sets went on. 

Felt like energy was fading by the time I got to the row sprints, but happy with consistency across all sets here.  Was holding 1:38 for the majority, which was definitely max effort for today.  

Thursday

10:00 light scap activation
+
A. Thruster, 3-3-3 adding each set - cut if knee still limits you; 2:00 rest
B. Weighted pronated pull-up, build to a max
+
For 10:00:
Evens: 4-7 CTB pull-ups
Odds: 14 fast alternating box step-up/step-downs, 20
+
3 sets:
:45 row @ max effort
5:15 rest

complete
+
A. subbed push press: 125, 135, 145 (PR for 3)
B. 219 (+45 @ 174) (PR +11)
+
complete; 5 CTB across
+
228m; 1:38.6/500m avg
229m; 1:38.2/500m avg
228m; 1:38.6/500m avg


AM weight @ home: 168.6
PM weight @ gym (including belt): 174

Everything felt excellent this morning.  I like the occasional morning training session - it's a nice change of pace.

Push presses felt better today than they have in a very, very long time - maybe ever.  Today, 145 would have qualified as moderate - never really felt heavy.  I only got 1 at 145 in August when going for a double, so I don't know what I was doing differently today. Wore nanos, maybe that's the secret.

Weighted pull-ups were great! Tried for +50 but didn't get very far.  +45 was legit! That's awesome.  Very happy with progress here.  A little disappointed that I seem to have gained back the 3lbs I thought I lost a few weeks ago.  Ate out Sat/Sun/Mon, which is not normal for me, so hopefully now that I'm back on track, it will level out again closer to 165-166.  Not super upset about it, just noting.

When warming up, tried to butterfly the CTBs and couldn't find the rhythm.  I think that's partially because I tend to slam my boobs into the bar instead of a gentle graze, which throws off the kip, so I did these with a regular kip.  Felt easier as the sets went on - it's been a while since I've done these.  Step ups felt awkward and dumb - I felt like I was in an 80's aerobics video.

Very happy with consistency on the longer row sprints.  When I did these in July, I dropped from 1:36 on the first one to 1:44 on the third one.  I think a lot of it is mental - I decided I was not going to drop off, and I didn't. Success.